Intersections South LA experienced a five-fold boom in traffic in late 2010, and founder Willa Seidenberg attributes the increase to a focus on engaging a smaller community.
“The project began as an open-ended endeavor,” she said, with USC-Annenberg students covering a vast area with an approximate population of 750,000. Now, the team will focus on the area formerly known as South Central, with a population of almost 50,000. The new focus will enable more targeted coverage for a more responsive area.
The boost in traffic, paired with the increase in user comments, is marking an important growth spurt for the site and comes as Seidenberg and her team paved the way for a major site overhaul that launched in early 2011.
“The goal is to scale back overall, but do deeper and more meaningful reporting and civic engagement in the areas we are targeting,” she says.
Local residents have been involved in successfully writing stories, Seidenberg says, including a project that teamed Intersections staff members with local residents to create audio slideshows of neighborhood hangouts:
- A walk in the Gilbert Lindsay Park
- Finding identity at the Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science
- The tenth wonder turns trash into treasure
- Soul food, Leimert Park and World of Curls
Intersections also gained national attention when it published a controversial editorial by a local mother about illegal immigration. The woman was asked to appear Bill O’Reilly’s show as a result.
“These posts are a window into places that promote community, pride and vitality in the neighborhood,” Seidenberg says.
Other initiatives by Intersections include community reporting workshops, partnerships with other local news organizations and a high-school student mentoring program. Seidenberg says these programs will continue to serve a critical role as Intersections moves into its new phase.
“The team is encouraged by the success of the site,” she said, “and we are looking forward to this next phase of the project’s growth.”
—Ashley Bright
